eption,
"it's a long, long story and I may as well tell it methodically or
you'll never appreciate the adventurous spirit that led me again to New
York--the one place I heartily detest."

"Oh, Ajo!" protested Patsy. "Is this the way to retain the friendship of
New Yorkers?"

"Isn't honesty appreciated here?" he wanted to know.

"Go ahead with your story," said Uncle John. "We left you some months
ago at the harbor of Los Angeles, wondering what you were going to do
with that big ship of yours that lay anchored in the Pacific. If I
remember aright, you were considering whether you dared board it to
return to that mysterious island home of yours at--at--"

"Sangoa," said Patsy.

"Thank you for giving me a starting-point," returned the boy, with a
smile. "You may remember that when I landed in your country from Sangoa
I was a miserable invalid. The voyage had ruined my stomach and wrecked
my constitution. I crossed the continent to New York and consulted the
best specialists--and they nearly put an end to me. I returned to the
Pacific coast to die as near home as possible, and--and there I met
you."

"And Patsy saved your life," added Beth.

"She did. First, however, Maud Stanton saved me from drowning. Then
Patsy Doyle doctored me and made me well and strong. And now--"

"And now you look like a modern Hercules," asserted Patsy, gazing with
some pride at the bronzed cheeks and clear eyes of the former invalid
and ignoring his slight proportions. "Whatever have you been doing with
yourself since then?"

"Taking a sea voyage," he affirmed.

"Really?"

"An absolute fact. For months I dared not board the _Arabella_, my sea
yacht, for fear of a return of my old malady; but after you deserted me
and came to this--this artificial, dreary, bewildering--"

"Never mind insulting my birthplace, sir!"

"Oh! were you born here, Patsy? Then I'll give the town credit. So,
after you deserted me at Los Angeles--"

"You still had Mrs. Montrose and her nieces, Maud and Flo Stanton."

"I know, and I love them all. But they became so tremendously busy that
I scarcely saw them, and finally I began to feel lonely. Those Stanton
girls are chock full of business energy and they hadn't the time to
devote to me that you people did. So I stood on the shore and looked at
the _Arabella_ until I mustered up courage to go aboard. Surviving that,
I made Captain Carg steam slowly along the coast for a few miles.
Nothing dreadful happen